


One Way Ticket to your Heart

by MaraSenpai1997



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, F/F, Family Issues, Fluff, Friendship, Getting Together, Hurt/Comfort, Light Angst, M/M, Secret Santa, Team as Family, friendship feels
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-30
Updated: 2017-12-30
Packaged: 2019-02-24 05:57:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 12,644
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13207437
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MaraSenpai1997/pseuds/MaraSenpai1997
Summary: Because, if you looked from an economic-like standpoint, there wasn’t such a thing as perfect. There was always room for improvement, no matter how small. But it was hard to let it go, hard to let go the notion that the gift had to be perfect. Because everything had to be perfect according to his dad. Perfect grades, a perfect girlfriend, perfect friends, and Jason tried but-Jason had deep rooted issues involving beingperfect— thanks dad — a ridiculous crush on Percy and friends who love him too much. Or the journey of how Jason finds the perfect Secret Santa present for Percy Jackson with the help of friends.





	One Way Ticket to your Heart

**Author's Note:**

> I spend about three days trying to finish this because I am _late_. I wanted to start this earlier, but school had suddenly pushed a deadline back and the story grew larger than I wanted, but it's done.
> 
> This work is written for [Percy Jackson Secret Santa](https://pjosecretsanta2k17.tumblr.com/) for the Tumblr user [nicodiangel](https://nicodiangel.tumblr.com/).

In the past, Jason never celebrated Christmas, or at least not with his friends. Before he had moved out, his dad dragged him along to be parties. Jason never liked them. He didn’t know the people, and frankly, didn’t care about them. It was all about his dad showing off his perfect son, who had accomplished _so much_ already. Because becoming Prom King was something that would get him far, or the fact that his best friend — excuse him, _girlfriend_ , because according to his dad, a boy and a girl couldn’t be friends — was the daughter of a famous movie star.

 

Well, Jason had considered dating Piper McLean. It would take the pressure off both of them, and he liked Piper a lot, in a completely platonic manner. But when Piper was crowned Prom Queen, she used her speech to come out to the school as being Lesbian. So also promised Leo that they would watch that cheesy Telenovela with the pretty female lead. So, yeah, dating would be out of the question considering Piper is out of the closest and probably ready to find a girlfriend.

 

Then, college came around. They all went to the same college, Leo on a scholarship and Piper and him were sponsored by their parents. Sometimes it was useful to have rich parents, more often, Jason rather had a father who was just your average Joe that truly loved having a son and didn’t see him as something he could show off. And in college, Jason met _him_.

 

He had always known that he was gay. Okay, that was a lie, but Jason suspected it. When watching a movie, he was actually the only one who enjoyed handsome male leads. Piper was all about the women, and so was Leo. So, yeah, he was gay. But the thing was, he never really had crushed on a guy, at least not a _real_ guy. So, Percy Jackson was like a punch in the lungs — though heart sounded fairer. He was _gorgeous_ , with jet black hair and sea-green eyes Jason could drown in, or wax poetry about if he actually could do poetry. But there was more than his looks, so much more than his looks.

 

Jason knew that he was a goner after a few months in their first year, charmed by Percy’s quirky personality, his adoration for his friend and slightly sarcastic humour. But it was easy to trade in his faint romantic interest for Percy for friendship — a friendship that didn’t stay just between him and Percy.

 

Leo and Percy hit off like crazy — Leo finally had someone to joke around with, something Jason, sadly enough, rarely did. Call him a stick in the mud, but Jason did struggle with really unwinding around others. His dad and step-mum saw him as this picture perfect guy, and it was hard to shake off that desired image. But that meant Annabeth Chase came into his life like a fresh breath of air. She was the more serious friend of Percy’s group of friends here in California. But she wasn’t all seriousness either, something that delighted Piper more than anyone else. It was rather obvious that Piper liked Annabeth, whenever it was romantic or platonic. And there was Rachel Elizabeth Dare, the last person of Percy’s three-man crew. Jason hadn’t expected to easily bond with her, but it turned out that bonding over their rich parents worked wonders to forge a friendship.

 

So, in his first year of college, Jason had celebrated Christmas together with his old and new friends, participating for the first time in a Secret Santa. He had spent an entire night bidding on rare and expensive architecture books that Annabeth surely would love. It was eight in the morning when Jason had succeeded. Leo had called him crazy, but he still had fed Jason coffee and assured him that Annabeth would love it. She did — there were even tears involved.

 

Year two brought surprises with them. Or, more like one surprise. Nico di Angelo. He wasn’t exactly a friend of Percy, but he still decided to follow him to California into college. Jason wasn’t sure what to think about Nico. He was a little bit odd, looked a bit scary and overall didn’t like anyone. But clearly Percy, Annabeth and Rachel were used to it, so Jason decided that it was fine. He wasn’t going to write off a person he barely knew.

 

When Nico di Angelo nearly cried when Jason had gifted him a couple of original prints of books Nico adored, at least according to Percy, Jason had adopted him. He suddenly had a shadow occasionally following him, and at the end of the year, it was like Jason had a little brother he never had. He wasn’t sure if he wanted one, one sister was plenty, but he supposed that Nico would be okay.

 

You know, seven people within a friend group were plenty. Jason struggled to spend time with everyone. He shared enough classes with Percy and the occasional class with Annabeth, so he saw them enough. He was roommates with Leo, which made seeing Leo easy. He had Saturday lunch with Piper and Leo — which had transformed into a Saturday lunch with whoever had time. The only reason he spends time with Nico was because Nico just forced him to spend time together. The first time he encountered Nico on his bed — not in his bed thankfully — reading a book, Jason almost had called the cops. A few months later, Jason didn’t even look up, just dumped his bag and started on his homework.

 

It didn’t stick with seven people. Nico dragged along his half-sister Hazel Levesque, who dragged her boyfriend Frank Zhang along. Suddenly, there were nine people and Jason ended up buying Frank — what was up with him getting the new people — a one-year subscription for the archery range. He wasn’t sure whenever Frank of Hazel was happier, but it had been a success.   

 

But that was it. Nine people were enough. He and Annabeth had spent way too much time on pinning down a date for their Secret Santa. Because it was difficult, trying to find a day that everyone was available _and_ that didn’t clash with people their holiday planning and midterm papers. This year would be the same hell, but Jason was willing. Even if it was just to see Percy come alive, being surrounded by so many good friends and Christmas presents.

 

Eleven. The count had gone up to eleven, and neither Jason or Annabeth had dared to say _no_. Because, even though nobody would acknowledge it, they all had a soft spot for Nico. If Percy had suggested two extra people, a _no_ would be hurled his way without a pardon. Jason might love him — yes, love, apparently spending time with someone wasn’t good to battle a crush — but Jason loved his sanity and sleep more. But it was Nico who asked if he could invite two friends to join their Secret Santa. Will Solace was in Nico’s year, and the two of them had hit it off well. It was nice, to see Nico have a friend of his own, one he didn’t share with the rest. There was also Reyna Ramírez-Arellano. She was in Jason’s year, and Jason knew her on an acquaintance level. But for whatever reason, she had grown fond of Nico, and in no time, they started to spend time together. If Nico only realised how many siblings he could have if he let them — the poor guy would have so many older brothers and sisters.

 

This lead to the fact that right now, there were eleven people stuffed into Nico’s dorm room — Nico had a ridiculously large dorm room for just one person — and slips of paper passed greasy hands, folds were smoothed out, and small cracks started to form in the corners. It was attempt number five to get their Secret Santa’s sorted out, the first four times someone had cried they had picked themselves. As soon as the slips were handed out to the people, they all hid somewhere to check their slip, making sure nobody could see the name written on the piece of paper. It had to be a surprise or at least a surprise to the person itself.

 

Jason hid behind the couch, thumbing the corner of his slip. He certainly would get either Reyna or Will. That was no other possibility, as up until now, he always got someone new. First Annabeth, then Nico and then Frank. He supposed that Will would be doable, all Jason had to do was ask Nico. But Reyna would be difficult. Jason didn’t know her well, and she didn’t seem to be someone who opened up easily.

 

Unfolding the piece of paper, Jason’s heart skipped several beats. Rachel’s beautiful handwriting greeted him, the letter _P_ was slanted with a pretty curl, yet it took Jason a while to take in the name written on his slip.

He hoped for a cry, for someone to announce they got themselves. But as it remained silent for a solid minute, Jason accepted his fate. He thought the previous Secret Santa’s had destroyed with having to figure out a good present. He takes that back. This was going to be a long December, and not just because midterms were coming up and it was his final year. No, because Percy _Jackson_ was written on his slip of paper and this was Jason’s chance to decide whenever he should confess or just try too hard for just a friend.

 

~*~

 

Jason had fallen asleep sitting behind his desk more than once. Actually, it was at least a monthly occurrence, because he just didn’t know when to quit. He couldn’t let his grades fall — his dad would kill him, or stop paying for college. The last was worse because he couldn’t get his hands on a scholarship. He wasn’t great at something, not like Leo or Percy, the latter getting a scholarship through professional swimming. He was just an average student who worked his ass off to get through.

 

So, he didn’t jump or scream when someone — most likely Leo as he had said he was out until late working on an engineering project — shook him awake. He just blinked at his screensaver, wondering what he had been doing before he nodded off. Homework, most likely.

 

“You know, I expected Nico to maybe be a closeted conspiracy theorist, not you,” Leo rambled. By how Leo’s speech slurred a little and was fast-paced, Jason assumed he was highly caffeinated and was living on a few hours of sleep. Midterm stress.

 

Taking off his glasses and placing them gently on the desk — one accident of tossing and breaking them was a lesson well learnt — Jason swirled around in his chair and faced Leo, ignoring the blurred edges. Sleeping with his glasses on was terrible, the plastic would dig into his face and left angry, red and tender marks that would be visible for a solid while. Plus, wearing his glasses right now would hurt like a banshee due to the soreness.

 

“I don’t believe that the moon landing is faked,” Jason said, rubbing his temples. “What time is it?”

 

“Eleven in the morning,” Leo answered. “Just got back and found you asleep and our whiteboard filled with Percy Jackson related things. The only thing that is missing is the red yarn.”

 

Maybe watching X-Files with Leo in the summer hadn’t been his brightest idea. Who was he kidding — he adored that show.

 

“I was planning my Secret Santa gift — something you weren’t supposed to know about,” there was little bite behind his words, and Jason knew perfectly fine _why_.

 

He had been planning on cleaning all the evidence once he was done for the night — he hadn’t expected Leo to return to their dorm room before four in the morning. But he hadn’t planned on falling asleep and sleep till _eleven_ either. How he hadn’t a crick in his neck was beyond him, but he wasn’t complaining. Once he had fucked up his neck so badly by falling asleep behind his desk that it took _days_ for him to use it again.

 

“Yeah, well, your Percy Jackson inspired mood board doesn’t help your case, you know.”

 

Rubbing the bridge of his nose, Jason snatched up his glasses and slid them back into place, even if it was just to see Leo’s teasing grin. Of course, Leo knew about Jason’s crush on Percy. Actually, he wondered who _didn_ _’t_ know. Percy… and yeah, that was it. Probably the only one that didn’t notice his ridiculous crush was the person Jason was actually crushing on. It was a small miracle nobody had told Percy yet, but on the other hand, his friends weren’t cruel.

 

“It isn’t a mood board,” Jason muttered. “And I have to tell Rachel that introducing you to Pinterest was an _awful_ idea. No, it’s a scrum-board.”

 

Leo’s eyes flickered over to the board, eyebrow pinched together in concentration. “Scrum is planning; I think you’re aiming for a mind map.”

 

Jason shrugged. He had honestly no idea what it was. A whiteboard filled with everything that made Percy Jackson who he was. There was also a list of potential gifts, but none of them really worked, weren’t special enough. While going with the blue theme always worked with Percy, it wasn’t original. Neither wasn’t going with anything water-related. That Percy studied Marine Biology wasn’t a free ticket to buy him a large, stuffed animals. (Though knowing Percy, he would adore it all the same). And Aquaman was definitely out of the equation. Just, how hard was it to think of something that wasn’t blue or water related?

 

According to Jason’s mind map, it was hard. Very hard because usually, he would be done thinking up a present by now, but right now, he was drawing a complete blank.

 

“I don’t know what to get him,” Jason said, ignoring the urge to curl up. “And I want it to be perfect, I-”

 

While Leo would forever deny it — Jason had just woken up, and him not being a morning person was a valid reason — he had engraved Leo’s high-pitched, excitement-filled squeal in his brain for the rest of his life. It helped that Leo looked excited as if he had got the go-ahead to go ballistic with the engineering material. If that would ever happen though, Transformers would no longer be a fictional concept, and Leo should have been voted as ‘most likely to rule the world’ back in high school. 

 

“So you _are_ trying to court him,” Leo said, a smirk painted on his lips. “Or, well, courting…” Leo made a nonsensical motion. “Asking him out, confession. _Wooing_ him.”

 

Jason grimaced. “Never say _wooing_ again. I don’t try to woo him, I just…” What even was he trying? “Want to give him something special, that he at least remembers me in a year, even if it’s just as a friend.”

 

Leo wasn’t the one for romance. It wasn’t for the lack of trying, it just turned out that nobody appreciated Leo as Leo, at least not like his friends appreciated him. Jason couldn’t imagine a better best friend than Leo, even though Leo could get on his nerves. But they all could get on each other’s nerves, but they dealt with it, and that was important. That was what made their friendship work. But as Leo wasn’t extremely successful when it came to romance, he often opted to tease others about their crushes. But that was the thing, Leo wasn’t grinning or rolling his eyes, there is a genuinely concerned look on his face.  

 

“I thought Annabeth and Piper were already bad,” Leo muttered — not that it really worked because they were sitting/standing about a metre apart from each other and it was deadly quiet in the room. “You, my friend, are an absolute goner.”

 

Jason resisted the urge to roll his eyes — he spends way too much time with Nico — but didn’t withhold a deep sigh. As if this was anything new, it was old news. Everyone knew that Jason was a goner expect from Percy himself, thankfully.

 

“But,” and Leo was back to his confident self. “I’ll help you.”

 

Usually, Jason was grateful when Leo was willing to help him — he wouldn’t have passed advanced mathematics otherwise — but right now, it made him worry more than anything. After all, Leo had made it his personal project to get Annabeth and Piper together. And after one killer butler-robot, a dinner accident and a fine that had made Jason beg his dad to pay for it, Jason had given up on Leo’s matchmaking capabilities. But maybe it was the thought that counted.

 

~*~

 

Leo’s idea, thankfully, didn’t include killing butler-robots, though it involved Annabeth.

 

“So…” Annabeth looked at him with god-honest puzzlement. “What brings you here?”

 

Maybe he shouldn’t have listened to Leo and corner Annabeth after judo practice. Because right now, it felt like Annabeth could judo flip him. To correct himself, Annabeth _could_ judo flip him. He had seen it happen to Percy, which had led to a healthy dose of respect and fear. Right now, fear was ruling his brain.

 

“Leo,” Jason said, offering Annabeth a deadpanned look.

 

As Annabeth’s face grew blank, Jason realised how bad it actually sounded.

 

“Not romantically, don’t worry,” Jason said. “Just, I need your help with something.”

 

Jason was glad to see the blank look on Annabeth’s face morphing into a slightly cautious look. He couldn’t blame her. The count of times Percy had uttered those words, and it had ended up in an insane, most likely illegal, situation, was too high. Only from the stories alone, he couldn’t count it on ten fingers. And those were just the high school stories — the skinny dipping fiasco was still plaguing Jason’s dreams. (Though plaguing wasn’t exactly the right usage of the English language, the dreams were rather pleasant. That was if you didn’t have to share a room with someone).

 

“My Secret Santa,” Jason continued explaining, ignoring the stares of other students who just had finished their judo class. “I’m clueless — Leo even think I had made a conspiracy board while figuring out the gift.”

 

Annabeth looked genuinely surprised. “You’re asking me?” Annabeth asked, and Jason nodded in confirmation. “You know that they have crowned you king of Secret Santa’s. You’re brilliant in finding gifts.”

 

It was silly how much the title meant to him, but it was a title he was actually proud of. Not that silly Prom King title, nobody actually cared about that, no, his hard work was actually appreciated and not because he was popular or because his dad was rich, but because he actually spends way too many hours on finding a fitting, personal gift.

 

“Also,” Annabeth’s eyes lit in the same manner Piper’s did — the two spend way too much time together. “You are a conspiracy theorist? What is your opinion on the moon landing?”

 

“I’m not- can’t anyone watch X-Files without being crowned a conspiracy theorist?”

 

“No, not really,” a pause followed. “But, seriously. What is the issue? I mean, I don’t know either Will or Reyna that well — I think you know Reyna better than I do, actually.”

 

“It’s Percy.”

 

“Oh fuck,” Annabeth looked a little lost for words. “You’re going to be that sappy romantic guy that finds his crush the perfect present without confessing, are you?”

 

He wanted to answer _no_ , he wasn’t a sappy romantic, but it _was_ his plan, to give Percy the perfect present without confessing his feelings. Because maybe it was enough to make his intentions clear and _woo_ him as Leo liked to say, or maybe Percy wouldn’t realise it. But that would be fine too. He had survived so far without a relationship with Percy, the next sixty years would be perfectly doable.

 

“That’s a yes,” Annabeth was clearly out of her depth, which was new. There were a few things Annabeth didn’t have a solution for, or at least couldn’t think of a solution after some extensive research. “You’re asking me advice on how to woo Percy while you have _Piper_ , who probably could play matchmaker between a _rock_ and a _leaf_ and make it work.”

 

It wasn’t a lie. Piper had a natural flair for matchmaking unless she had to matchmake herself. At least, that was the explanation why it had taken her and Annabeth three _years_ to get together.

 

“Because you know him,” Jason explained. “You two are best friends — if someone knows what Percy likes, it’s you.”

 

“Fair enough,” Annabeth still looked a bit lost, which probably earned them more stares than the fact that Jason was nearly standing in the girl's locker room. “Uhm, I suppose that the blue and water theme are ruled out already?”

 

Jason nodded. “Yeah, I wanted to do something unique, but it’s so difficult to think beyond that.”

 

Annabeth took her sweet time to think, but he didn’t mind. It was nice that Annabeth was actually willing to help him. Because, it was one of the unwritten rules of Secret Santa — all the rules were unwritten — that you kept your Secret Santa a secret. That was working well with Leo and Annabeth already knowing he had gotten Percy.

 

“I will look further into it later,” Annabeth promised, her grey eyes meeting his. “But maybe you can go cliché and consider voucher. To a movie, to the aquarium. Percy is my best friend, and I try to make time for him. But with school and now Piper, it’s hard,” guilt was written over Annabeth’s features. “I think he’s a bit lonely, and giving him vouchers to showings or events give him an excuse to drag a friend along, whenever it’s me, you, or any friend he has.”

 

He knew that Annabeth wasn’t happy with her suggestions — he would feel terrible if he couldn’t think up a unique idea for his best friends. He knew Piper and Leo for ages, he knew things about them no-one else would ever get to know. That was the privilege of growing up together. Plus, her face said it all, the frustration, the disappointment.

 

“Don’t beat yourself over it,” Jason said. “I appreciate it, plus I jumped it on you. If you have any suggestions, just let me know. Say hi to Piper for me, will you?”

 

Annabeth’s face suddenly lit up, a look Jason was familiar with. She had an idea.

 

“Give me your phone,” Annabeth said, a slightly wicked look in her eyes. “It’s the best I can do. Just say that I’m not the only one who knows Percy for an awfully long time, and I’m not talking about Rachel.”

 

Unlocking his phone, Jason reluctantly handed Annabeth it. A bit later, Jason was handed his phone back. A name was added to his contact list, and it was a bit frightening how easily he recognised it. Grover Underwood was Percy’s very best and very first friend, Percy had mentioned him plenty of times when he talked about his childhood shenanigans, which mostly had involved Grover.    

 

This probably would be worse than meet-the-parent, though he supposed that Grover was a nice guy, or otherwise Percy would have never been friends with him.

 

~*~

 

Sharing a room with Leo could have its perks, like that Leo was a pretty nice roommate, as he kept Jason’s space clean and occasionally showed up with food that was to die for. The disadvantage? He could be just like a little kid. Sometimes it was more like having a slumber party with his best friend than actually being roommates, which wouldn’t be bad if they didn’t have to get out early.

 

“You can always give yourself as a present?” Leo suggested as if it wasn’t eleven in the evening and they didn’t have eight o’ clock classes.

 

Rolling onto his side so he could see the dark, blurry outline of Leo’s blanket burrito, Jason measured his options. Throw something at Leo and hoping he hadn’t built some defence mechanism, ignore Leo and forgo his sleep because Leo wouldn’t stop nagging, or just actually react to Leo’s comment.

 

He truly loves Leo sometimes but right now-

 

“Yeah, let’s wrap myself in a bow and give myself to Percy like some object. I’m not even sure if he swings that way,” Jason pointed out. Plus, it didn’t help he was imagining giving himself with way less clothing on. Hormones were an ass.

 

He could see Leo’s blanket burrito move around till he saw the faintly blurred outlines of Leo’s head. He was pretty sure Leo was grinning, but the lack light and glasses left him guessing. It was a fairly educated guess though, as Leo was a cheeky little… idiot.

 

“He’s bisexual,” Leo said. “Kinda came up when I was flirting with him.”

 

It wasn’t exactly surprising to hear about Percy’s sexual orientation. Otherwise, at least someone would have so kindly mentioned that Percy only liked women. That would have made some things loads easier because straight men weren’t the type Jason was after. But the confirmation was nice-

 

“Wait, you _flirted_ with Percy?” Jason almost choked on his own words. Like, he didn’t own Percy, nor owned he Leo. Both were free to do whatever they liked. But that didn’t make it feel less like a betrayal — though he was more embarrassed by the fact that his mostly straight best friend had more guts to flirt with a guy than he had.

 

“In my defence, I flirted with every single person in our friend group, even Piper.”

 

It took all a bit to settle in. First of all, Jason wasn’t aware that Leo was even interested men. Secondly, that meant Leo had flirted with him, which Jason hardly could recall. Thirdly, the ‘even Piper’ made no sense whatsoever. Jason had seen Leo actually flirting with Piper, it would be more distributing if-

 

This time Jason was stuttering —  a healthy flush painted on his cheeks. Now he was glad they were talking about this in the dark. “You flirted with _Nico_!”

 

“Again, in my defence, I hadn’t slept in seventy-two hours and Nico isn’t bad looking.”

 

Okay, this was worse. Leo flirting with his kid brot- eh, Nico. Darn it, he was too far gone.

 

It was clear that Jason had been spacing out, as Leo just kept on rambling, clearly not realising that Jason hadn’t reacted once.

 

“But then Solace started glaring at me, and I don’t know if it is because Solace doesn’t like me, likes Nico, or has adopted Nico like a brother too- oh shit, don’t kill me for flirting with your-”

 

“Don’t bother, what has been heard can’t be unheard,” Jason wished he had bunked with someone else. Someone who decided that eleven- correction, eleven-thirty wasn’t the perfect time for gossiping. “But seriously, Nico?”

 

A disappointed sigh came from Leo’s bed. “Yeah, I know. But seriously, Percy might just be a bit lonely, ya know. With Annabeth spending quite some time with Piper and Rachel is busy too- maybe company is all he needs.”

 

“You have been out drinking with Percy, haven’t you?”

 

“Maybe,” a pause, then a whispered ‘fine’. “ _Yes._ ”

 

“Go to sleep, my eight o’ clock class waits for no one.”

 

Jason expected Leo to protest, so the soft ‘night’ was a nice change.

 

Curling up into his blanket, Jason added his own ‘good night’ to the mix. Scrap that, he liked having Leo as his roommate, despite the many cons. In the end, the pros outweighed the cons.

 

~*~

 

“This is Grover Underwood, who am I speaking?”

 

Never in his life had Jason wanted to hit the end call button so badly. He wasn’t bad with people, not at all, but this was _Grover,_ Percy’s best friend. It wouldn’t even matter whenever Percy actually liked him or not. If Jason somehow would manage to get Grover to dislike him, all hope was lost. You didn’t date a person your best friend had bad feelings about. That’s where best friends were for, having your back when you’re an absolute disaster when it comes to dating.

 

With nerves buzzing like crazy — like, this wasn’t ‘meet the parents’ — Jason blurted out the first thing that came into his mind. He would kill Leo later.

 

“The Amazing Grace.”

 

This was a new level of embarrassment, and he had done plenty of embarrassing things in life. But using the name he was teased with in high school was a new level low. Especially in front of his crush’s best friend.

 

It was a small relief that he had drawn a laugh out of Grover, though he rather would have introduced himself with his name. Because, he is sure that any other guy, himself included, would have cut off the call by now.

 

“Jason Grace I assume?” there was still laughter in Grover’s voice, which was admirable for someone who just got called by a guy who called himself ‘The Amazing Grace’. Jason would have been wary at the least.

 

Recalling that he once had manners, Jason cleared his throat and tried to keep his voice steady. “Ah, yes. Jason Grace, sorry about that introduction.”

 

Grover laughed good-heartedly. How nice could a guy be? Well, at least he understood why Percy was so fond of Grover.

 

“Annabeth had mentioned it — saying you were in need of advice on finding a gift for Percy, one that ‘would knock him off his feet’ to quote Annabeth.”

 

Well, Grover hadn’t been interrogating him yet, so that was a good thing. Maybe this wasn’t as bad as he expected it to be. “Sounds more like Piper’s than Annabeth,” Jason noted.

 

As Grover remained quiet for a bit, Jason started to panic a little. Because, this must be very awkward for Grover, talking with someone he never had talked with before about people he didn’t know.

 

“Sorry, this must be awkward for you,” Jason apologised. “Should have opted for texting.”

 

For at least another minute there was nothing but silence before the line on the other end came back to life.

 

“Sorry, my girlfriend needed me suddenly — as in, life or death. Or more like her monthly issue.”

 

Jason both vocally as physically shuddered as he recalled Piper’s bloody issue. Like, the sheets had looked like someone was murdered on them, and Piper had been hysterical because _how do you wash blood out of your clothes?_ The Internet and a grocery store held the answers, thankfully, but Jason was scarred for life.

 

“It’s fine,” Jason said, voice a little tight due to the not overly welcome flashbacks. “You haven’t missed much, just me asking if this isn’t awkward for you? You don’t know me, at all. Nor Piper, or any other name I will mention.”

 

“You seriously don’t think I don’t know you? I thought you was Percy’s boyfriend till he pointed out that in fact, the two of you were good friends,” a whispered discussion was held on Grover’s side of the line — probably his girlfriend. “I think I know more about you, just a friend of Percy, than Percy knows about Juniper, and I have been dating her for six years.”

 

Did Percy seriously talk about him _that_ much? Maybe Percy just talked a lot about his friends, after all, Grover’s name was mentioned on many occasions, often reflecting on his time in high school.

 

“And he doesn’t talk much about the rest?” Jason asked, hoping that Grover would offer him a _no_. That would mean Jason wouldn’t get his hopes up — something he was already doing. After all, Percy was aside from being his crush, also a good friend, and he hoped that Percy saw him as a good friend too. Maybe not best friend material, but it wasn’t like Jason had promoted Percy as his best friend either, this position was shared between Leo and Piper.

 

“No — he does. He’s very fond of you guys,” it wasn’t hard to hear to disappointment — long-distance friendships were hard.

 

“He talks a lot about you,” Jason said, trying to reassure Grover that Percy hadn’t forgotten him. He hadn’t, Percy mentioned Grover too often for that. “He misses you.”

 

Jason knew it wasn’t up to him to say that, but he only could imagine the strain the distance had on their relationship. He wouldn’t know what to do if either Leo or Piper had decided to go college somewhere else, somewhere far away. Life wouldn’t be the same without them.

 

“I know that he says it often,” nostalgic was laced with Grover’s words. “But, considering we’re wasting time with idles chit-chat, we should see what the issue is. Because, in all fairness, finding Percy a present should not be _that_ hard. Percy appreciates quite literally everything — you could give him a pair of Christmas socks, and he will wear them with pride.”

 

It was hard not to grin hearing Grover’s description because it sounded just like Percy. “It does, but I want something, well, unique. Something that he will remember in a year or so.”

 

The brief silence that followed was a bit awkward, and Jason truly wondered if he had said something wrong. “Is that too ambitious?”

 

“No, it isn’t really. Just… difficult. When it comes to presents, Percy is easily pleased, and I doubt that anything blue or water-related is what you’re looking for,” a pause followed. “But on the other hand, it’s the thought that counts. Just give him a goody bag with things he likes, food, stuffed animals, dog threats and maybe even school supplies. It might be overdone, but it shows you know the person well — but it isn’t exactly what you’re aiming for, is it?”

 

Smiling a little wryly, Jason made a disagreeing noise. “No, not really. Sorry.”

 

“Don’t be,” Grover assured, voice still gentle. “It isn’t what you’re looking for, and I’m aware of that. But on the other hand, just know that Percy doesn’t care what you get him, as long as you put effort into it.”

 

“Thank you,” Jason said. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

 

“That’s all what really-”

 

“Wait, you live in California, right?”

 

Jason stared blankly into space, wondered what that had to do with his Percy issue.

 

“Yes?”

 

Excitement was laced with his words as Grover started to give him either the best or the most horrifying idea for his Secret Santa.

 

“Okay, so, listen. It was a tradition that Percy and Annabeth spend Christmas break together, often back in New York with Percy’s parents. But I recall Annabeth telling me that she would spend Christmas with Piper and Rachel. You could invite Percy to spend Christmas with you and your family. That way he won’t be lonely during Christmas.”

 

It was a good idea, very memorable. But there was one issue — his _parents_. He wasn’t even sure if his parents knew he was gay, as far as they were considered, Jason would eventually settle down with Piper — not, definitely not. Plus, they most likely look down on Percy, the same as they had done with Leo because he didn’t come from a rich family. It was ridiculous, Leo was a wonderful guy, _Percy_ was a wonderful guy. A good personality couldn’t be bought, which meant that money had no value whatsoever.

 

“It’s not a bad idea,” Jason admits. “Just, _my parents_.”

 

The silence on the other end was a bit awkward, but that was to be expected from such confession.

 

“I see — I just thought it was worth offering.”

 

“It was,” Jason said in a hurry. He definitely would take it into consideration, though he would rather take Percy along to Leo’s place. Leo’s mother was wonderful. “I just have to think about it — but I think it will be worth looking into. Thank you so _much_.”

 

Grover sounded a little teary-eyed when he answered. “You’re welcome — I hope you’ll manage to find your perfect gift.”

 

“I hope so too.”

 

~*~

 

Grover’s idea had carefully been added to his mind map — no it isn’t a conspiracy board like Leo liked to call it — and he would have a solid amount of items for a goody bag, including movie vouchers or vouchers for other showings, like the aquarium or the marine biology museum.

 

But with still two weeks to go, Jason decided that it wouldn’t hurt to try for more. So, he went to the best option when it came to romance, Piper McLean. He knew that Piper would be in her dorm room, doing _something_. Probably something midterm related, and with Annabeth locked away in the library, he didn’t have to worry about walking into them doing inappropriate things.

 

With that in mind, Jason had entered her dorm room without knocking, being only seconds away from announcing his issue. If it had been Leo, the issues already had been announced loud and clear, probably with some flattery added into the mix. Not that this was much better. Well, it was better for the ladies, Jason, however, wasn’t overly comfortable in the situation.

 

“So… when did this happen?”

 

The question could honestly refer to so many things. For one, the fact that Piper, Rachel and _Reyna_ were all present. Reyna never had been really part of their friend group — more like a classmate everyone knew but didn’t hang around with. So how she had ended up in Piper’s dorm room was a mystery. Though, the state of undress raised more concerns. He supposed it had something to do with the deck of cards on the ground, and the stoic look all three of the girls had.

 

“Well, I invited Reyna for some bonding before the Secret Santa, so it wouldn’t be so awkward for her,” Rachel explained, folding her cards and placing them on the ground, putting the game on hold. “And Piper was also free, so we decided on some girl bonding time.”

 

 “And we decided on strip poker,” Piper added in happily, waving around her hand of cards. Jason saw a red ace flashing by for a moment, and by the way Reyna’s gaze darted around, she too had seen it. “Because nothing bonds better than learning how to read each other with your modesty at stake.”

 

The ‘modesty at stake’ part didn’t really seem to apply to these three. None of the girls looked embarrassed with their state of undress, with Piper wearing only a bra and leggings, Rachel was barefooted and was wearing only a tank over her own bra. Reyna, however, only had lost two shoes and a sock.

 

“Aren’t girls supposed to, you know, have slumber parties, paint nails, tell gossip? Or is that just the movies?”

 

Reyna looked a bit embarrassed, but both Rachel and Piper took it in stride. “That’s the movies and you and Leo, how many times have you gossiped in the dark?” Piper asked, a teasing grin on her lips.

 

“From when do we count?”

 

“This school year.”

 

“Fine,” why was he friends with her again? “Thirteen times, the summer was worse though.”

 

Rachel giggled, and Reyna visibly relaxed, realising that Jason wasn’t a threat — if that made any sense. Reyna just seemed like someone who was a bit guarded, which made sudden strangers not the most appealing prospect.

 

“And what did you discuss? Very manly things, I suppose,” Piper wiggled her eyebrows playfully.

 

Knowing that there was no way he would get out of this situation, Jason sat down between Rachel and Reyna, meeting a shirtless Piper head-on. Why she was comfortable walking around like that around him was still beyond him. She certainly wouldn’t do it around Leo, or Percy. But on the other hand, Jason was the only openly gay person aside from Nico — who would have turned heel the moment he had walked into this situation.

 

“I wish,” Jason admitted, idly playing with the loose ends of his threadbare sweater. “X-files, terrible teachers and conversations about the people who hold our interest.”

 

Piper’s eyes lit up, and _finally_ , Jason was getting where he had been aiming for. “You’re here to talk about Percy, aren’t you?”

 

Rachel looked like Christmas came early, an expression Piper shared, though she looked a little smug. Reyna, however, went to several emotions in a manner of seconds. Confusion, realisation, _relief_.

 

“I didn’t know you like Jackson,” Reyna confessed, a faint smile on her lips.

 

“Like doesn’t cut it,” Rachel said, offering Reyna a dazzling smile. “I think he had been gone for him the first time they met — I mean; it only takes a blind man or a Percy Jackson not to notice that.”

 

Jason held his hand up as a peace offer, and a request to talk freely. He didn’t stand a chance.

 

Rachel gently pushed his hand down, offering him an almost sympathetic look. The _almost_ part was important.

 

While Jason had been trying to get a word into the conversation, Piper had _finally_ put on a sweater — though it definitely wasn’t hers. Rachel’s, most likely, taking the paint splatters into consideration. What was up with girls sharing each other’s closest?

 

Recalling he still had Percy’s sweater he had borrowed, and the fact he hadn’t seen one of his own sweaters in ages, Jason took back that question. It wasn’t just a girl’s thing, it seemed.

 

“Okay, I assume you finally got your head out of your ass and am ready to confess to Percy,” Piper said, eyes sparkling with determination. “Which means we need a plan of attack. Which pants?”

 

“The white-washed ones, show off his well-built tights,” Rachel suggested. “The black jeans would do well too. You can’t go wrong with black.”

 

Said the girl who was wearing all colour.

 

Feeling all sanity leaving this room, Jason hoped that Reyna could be his saviour. She at least looked a tad confused, though not annoyed as Jason would have expected.

 

While Piper and Rachel were discussing his outfit choice for the confession that would never happen, Reyna cocked her head, offering Jason a piercing stare. “I think,” she said. “You aren’t here to discuss your feelings about Jackson.”

 

Fiddling with the slightly ruffled end of his sweater, Jason nodded curtly, waiting for the girls chatting to fade out.

                                                                    

“ _Oh_ ,” Rachel said, already sounding apologetic. “Sorry, we just assumed — you _always_ get like that when it’s about Percy.”

 

“Because it’s about Percy — he’s my Secret Santa and finding a present has been a _nightmare_.”

 

Yes, he knew he was supposed to keep his Secret Santa a secret, but secret be dammed. He _wanted_ the perfect gift, after spending so much time on finding it, he just couldn’t give up.

 

Piper offered him a gentle, slightly sad, look. “Jason, you _know_ that things don’t have to be perfect, not for us at least. Just get him something, and it will be fine. He will love everything that you give him.”

 

“I agree with Pipes,” Rachel added. “I mean, I know Percy, and he’s a very grateful guy. Finding the perfect gift is difficult because there isn’t such thing as a perfect gift. What would be perfect right now would just be a good gift next year.”

 

This was literally the same advice as the one he had gotten from Annabeth and Grover. Everything would be fine, there was no need to make things perfect. Because, if you looked from an economic-like standpoint, there wasn’t such a thing as perfect. There was always room for improvement, no matter how small. But it was hard to let it go, hard to let go the notion that the gift had to be perfect. Because everything had to be perfect according to his dad. Perfect grades, a perfect girlfriend, perfect friends, and Jason tried but-

 

“I don’t know Jackson that well,” Reyna said, surprising the other three students. “But I know Nico knows him well, and in a different light than Chase or Dare — Rachel — know him. It might be worth asking him for ideas.”

 

Jason wanted to hit his past self. Of course, _Nico_ was the next logical option. He wasn’t one of Percy’s best friends, like Grover, Annabeth or Rachel. He was just a _friend_ , a friend that used to crush on Percy. This was perfect _if_ Nico was willing to cooperate.

 

~*~

 

“No.”

 

The words died on his lips and Jason was rendered to bafflement and faint confusion. He hadn’t asked _anything_ yet.

 

“But,” Jason protested. “I haven’t even asked you anything.”

 

Nico shrugged, not even looking up from the textbook he was sharing with Solace. Jason had met Solace only once when they drew names for the Secret Santa, but it was a figure hard to forget. Lanky, with a hand of golden curls and a smile that got most women, and half of the men, swooning. If he didn’t spend most of his time with his nose in the books that is.

 

“We all have midterms — unless it benefits me, I won’t help you,” Nico said, cross-referencing his own work with Solace’s. “Or are you one of these people who have everything in control and came here to ask me something else?”

 

Wincing a little at the jab — usually, this _was_ his mind-set, but at some point, life caught up with him, and there wasn’t just enough time to finish things weeks ahead. His midterm project was still taunting him on a daily base, and he wondered if he would ever get it done.

 

“I actually wanted to ask you for advice on a personal matter,” Jason admitted, taking the seat opposite of the third years. “If you don’t mind, could you tell me what you would give Percy if it had to be the perfect present, right now.”

 

Nico’s face twisted into distaste for a brief moment, before smoothing out eventually. The blank look was a bit unnerving, but Jason was used to it by now.

 

“You ask me and not Annabeth or Rachel?”

 

Jason grimaced a little. He didn’t like the fact this was a sore topic for Nico, and that he was bringing it up. But if someone knew Percy well, it had to be Nico. The gritty details Percy didn’t like to share with his closest friends because he didn’t want to worry them. It was cruel Percy told them to Nico, but on the other hand, Nico simply could say _no_.

 

“I already did,” Jason admitted. “I even called Grover,” surprise flickered over Nico’s otherwise blank face. “But I couldn’t find the right present — it’s stupid because they offered me so many suggestions. But the best idea included is dragging Percy to my place for Christmas. You have _met_ my parents.”

 

Solace looked uncomfortable, which didn’t really surprise him. This was something between him and Nico, and till a certain extend Percy. It was almost like two brothers were fighting for the same guy — not that Jason would ever fight Nico on that matter. He would back off immediately, he wasn’t going to crush their relationship on the pretence of a relationship.

 

“You’re so gone for him, it’s kinda pathetic,” Nico said, faint teasing laced between his words. “But please make him happy — I care about Percy, not even romantically anymore. He was the first person who offered me friendship, and I’ll treasure that forever. His happiness is important to me.”

 

It was a punch to the gut to realise that Nico wasn’t wrong when talking about Percy’s happiness. While keeping up a facade that he was happy, Percy had been a little down as of lately. It got worse the closer they got to Christmas, which was odd. Percy loved Christmas, always gushing about seeing his parents, little sister and dog and eat way too many foods his mother baked.

 

What even were Percy’s Christmas plans? Piper, Annabeth and Rachel would be spending Christmas with Annabeth’s parents. Leo would go home and spend Christmas with his cousins, Hazel would spend Christmas with Frank in Canada, and he was pretty sure that Nico would join Solace for Christmas. He wasn’t sure what Reyna’s plans were, but he recalls her telling she was going to spend some time together with her older sister. But Percy’s plans were unknown. Completely unknown and Jason had the feeling it had something to do with the more sombre mood Percy had been walking around with.

 

“He isn’t going home for Christmas, is he?” Jason asked, though the answer was obvious.

 

“No, too expensive,” Nico said. “He has been scrambling to get the money together, but around this time the costs are just insane — I offered to pay for the tickets but-”

 

“He said no,” Jason supplied. “And gifting him the tickets without consent will only help to make him feel guilty, and he would try everything to pay them off.”

 

Nico nodded. “So, I think the idea of bringing him home for Christmas is the best option you — even if that means he has to meet your parents and spend most of his time in your room, avoiding being showed off.”

 

That idea sounded awful. Like, it wasn’t the best idea to begin with, but with Nico explicitly mentioning that his parents would most likely show Percy off for his talents — mainly his swimming achievements — it went from a _meh_ idea to a terrifying idea.

 

“Or you can work around it,” Solace said, joining the conversation for the first time. It must have been terribly awkward for him, listening to a conversation he was no part of. “Give him a ticket to New York, saying you got two because you were going to visit someone there with Leo — but Leo opted out last minute, so you had a leftover ticket. _If_ you have someone living there of course. And if you’re able to afford those tickets because they’re expensive.”

 

This idea was honestly brilliant. Like, Jason hadn’t mentioned his Christmas plans yet, because he had been planning on staying here instead of going home, and he didn’t want to worry anyone. In addition to that, his sister had mentioned she would be in New York for Christmas. Jason didn’t have any plans on visiting her — but she wouldn’t mind if he used to visit her as an excuse to get Percy those tickets. Plus, he at least would have someone to spend the Christmas with, even though he would come in second place, below Thalia’s friend group.

 

“Thalia — my sister, is currently in New York. I could spend Christmas with her, and as long as Leo is willing to play along, I’ll be set — this is just great,” Jason pushed his glasses up and rubbed the bridge of his nose in relief. Finally, he had it. It was a meaningful, purposeful gift that surely would make Percy’s day, week even. That was what it was all about, finding that perfect gift.

 

“Uhm, Jason,” Solace’s voice was hesitant. “I think we both had something else in mind.”

 

Pushing his glasses back on his nose, he saw that Solace and Nico were sharing confused looks.

 

“This is your opportunity to confess,” Nico supplied, looking a bit tired. “You know, woo him or whatever you want to call it. Because your crush is ridiculous and nobody goes through these lengths to find the perfect gift — that will cost loads. Just confess, make everyone happy.”

 

It hadn’t been the first person who suggested him to confess, but hearing it from Nico made him feel _weird_. His chest felt tight, lungs struggled to breathe, and he was pretty sure his heart had decided that one-hundred-something beats per minute were a perfectly good heartbeat. It didn’t make sense that it was Nico who got that reaction out of him, because Nico-

 

Because Nico had been there. He most likely had been in this position, maybe talking with Annabeth about his feelings for Percy, questioning what the best way was to confess and in Nico’s case, move on. But was Jason ready to move on — as this was most likely what Nico was implying?

 

“I think it’s easier not to confess,” Jason said, voice feeling as tight as chest as if the emotions he was feeling didn’t fit properly anymore. “I mean, we’ll most likely go our separated ways once college finishes, and it isn’t like I will see Percy much anymore. It’s better than the heartbreak that follows and the rift that will come between our friend group.”

 

It wasn’t meant to raise pity; it was just the truth. He hadn’t seen Percy shown any interest in him beyond friendship, which was fair. He came with a package, they all did, and Jason hadn’t pushed a relationship on him, trying to move things to romance. It was a step he didn’t dare to make, which should make no sense whatsoever, as Piper never had been happier than since she finally made her intentions clear to Annabeth, who happily wanted to persuade a relationship with her.

 

He thankfully didn’t get pity — instead, Solace looked gobsmacked, and Nico looked annoyed, scrap that, he looked ready to throttle Jason.

 

“Excuse me if I’m wrong,” Solace started, voice a little strained. “But when I first met the two of you, I was _convinced_ the two of you were dating. Like, not out in the open, displaying your affection, but subtle things were going on between the two of. Conversations without words, subtle touches, being able to read each other’s body language — I was so sure. But then the hesitation started to show, itching to pass the border between friendship and romance and I _knew_. And it annoyed me because I saw you two together _way_ too often. And then it turned out that this has been going on for years. Why?”

 

Nico chuckled, gently nudging Solace’s arm. “What he said, only less poetic. Will is a true romantic at heart, or at least his book-choice says so.”

 

Suddenly, it made sense how Nico and Solace met. Nico volunteers in the school library, and if Solace were a regular visitor, they would meet up eventually, and apparently, it clicked (probably bonding over trashy romance novels).

 

“You thought me and Percy were dating?” Jason asked, finding it all a bit hard to believe. Nobody else had bothered to the point that out to them, like, nobody. And surely Leo would have teased him if they looked all lovey-dovey together.

 

“I thought too at first,” Nico admitted. “And I was a bit pissed, but on the other hand, your love seemed genuine and real, and it made it hard to hate you. Then it turned out you weren’t dating and the prospect of Percy dating you seemed to make him happy, and here we are, two years later and you still deny attraction.”

 

“I don’t deny it — I just treasure our friendship,” Jason protested, though he knew it was a losing battle. Because it was all true, he could read Percy like an open book most of the times, figured out little cues and what they all meant. Excitement, anger, worry. Jason could spot most of it in seconds time, and finding out the source usually was fairly easy. Until now, it seemed, as he hadn’t noticed the source of Percy’s sombre mood — to busy figuring out a present for Percy. He was such a terrible friend.

 

Nico nudged his leg, forcing him to actually pay attention to the duo of third years. “ _Confess_ , because Percy isn’t going to do that on his own, and sadly enough, you’re the most reasonable one out of the two.”

 

What Solace was thinking was pretty much written all over his face. If _Jason_ was the most reasonable one, what would Percy be like?

 

~*~

 

Jason felt like vomiting, which was new. He had expected to feel those feelings for his midterms, but he was feeling fairly confident about them. No, they were gathered in Nico’s dorm room, dressed in ugly Christmas sweaters, sipping Hot Coco — not spiked because last year had been a disaster — and gathering all the Secret Santa gifts.

 

The trash bags were labelled with the names for who they belong to. There was no name from the sender, which was a part of the game. In the end, you had to guess who had who. It wasn’t really a competition, as there was no price at stake unless you counted bragging rights. Last year’s bragging rights went to Annabeth, who got most of them right. Jason knew he wasn’t in the running, as everyone by now knew he had Percy, except Hazel, Frank and Percy himself.

 

“Okay, we’ll be going through the rules one more time, especially for the newcomers,” Annabeth stood among the presents, holding a piece of paper in her hands. “First we’ll use two dices to decide the person who starts. The one who throws the highest count of eyes starts. You’re supposed to pick _not_ your own Secret Santa unless it’s important to keep your cover as the giver. Once the first present is picked, the person who received it is allowed to pick the next one till we’re finished with all the presents. After that, you’ll have thirty minutes to figure out who has gotten who and submit the list to me. Sounds fair?”

 

People hummed agreements and Jason made himself comfortable. He was sandwiched between Leo and Percy, admittedly more leaning into Percy than Leo. In the end, he had let his confession out of the gift. It had been tempting, slipping in a paper with the words ‘I love you - Jason Grace’ written on it. But if he was going to dig his own gave, he was going to do it in person, and he had the feeling he had plenty of time for that this evening.

 

“So, care to co-team on this?” Percy whispers as Annabeth handed Reyna the dices, who was located two seats left from Percy. It would be a while before it was their turn to throw the dices. “I know a few already, and you’re always pretty good at this. Not Annabeth’s level of good, but our combined forces…”

 

Ignoring the rush of nerves coursing through his veins, Jason let his eyes flicker over the group of people. Annabeth was a threat, but he had the feeling that Reyna was also a force to be reckoned with.

 

“I already know two, mine and Leo’s,” he made sure that Leo wouldn’t hear his own name. “And Frank’s will be easy to figure out.”

 

Percy was grinning widely, and it saddened Jason a little that it was the first time in a while that Percy had such a happy expression on his face. Percy was a family person, and his close friends were basically considered his family. This must be the closest he was expecting to spend Christmas with his family.

 

“Yeah, and I can figure out Rachel with ease, and Annabeth might be doable too. Piper?”

 

Flicking his gaze over to Piper, Jason saw her pouting, arms crossed over her chest. The dices already had passed her, so he supposed that she wasn’t in the running to start. “Doable, which means we at least have six or seven people in the pocket without even having to try — I think we can win this.”

 

Percy hummed in a manner that Jason had started to associate with content. “This year I’ll finally beat Annabeth — she won’t be happy about that.”

 

Yes, while it just was having bragging rights, people took the competition rather seriously. A lot more serious than Jason originally had expected.

 

Jason jumped a little when Leo nudged his side, pushing the dices in his unoccupied hand with a shit-eating grin.

 

“Your turn Superman, Hazel and I got twelve, so you might better be praying to Tyche for two sixes.”

 

Withdrawing his other hand from Percy’s tight — how did that one end up there — Jason mixed up the dices and threw them, hoping that he would get twelve eyes. Because starting would be loads easier, because he didn’t have to start off with his present, something he would see Leo doing. Starting with the gift intended for Percy, which meant that Jason had to face his demons immediately.

 

Four. He managed to score a whopping total of _four_ eyes. That wasn’t enough.

 

Both Leo and Percy were teasing him mercilessly, till Percy managed to score a solid three eyes, even less than Jason. So, being the great friend he was, Jason teased Percy in return.

 

He honestly hadn’t been paying too much attention, too busy annoying Percy and basking in the warmth of Percy’s smile. God, he loved that smile so much. So it came to him as a surprise when Leo left his side, making it suddenly feel a lot colder.

 

Looking away from Percy, he saw Leo triumphantly stride towards the gifts. It seemed that he was facing his demons early on, though maybe that was for the best. He wouldn’t work himself up for the rest of the gift exchange, as there was nothing to worry about. He couldn’t change the past.

 

“Aquaman, you’re in luck,” Leo said, taking the trash bag of the present. “Your Secret Santa got you a…” Leo blinked in surprise as a simple goody bag stood in the middle of the room. “Goody bag!”

 

Percy looked intrigued, making a grabbing motion for Leo to bring it to him. They rarely opted for goody bags, as most people poured their focus on one item, maybe a handful at best. But a goody bag meant many items, and many items meant overall cheap presents. There was nothing wrong with cheap presents, just that it often was less genuine and more of a ‘hastily put together’ kind of bag.

 

Leo dropped the goody bag at Percy’s feat and sat down next to Jason again, eyes bright with mischief. Nine sets of eyes were focused on the two of them, and Jason had the vague feeling most of them were actually looking at him than at Percy because nearly everyone _knew_ that it was Jason’s present, and they also knew that Jason had spent way too much time on finding it.

 

Many of the goods were, in all fairness, very basic. Writing utility, a new lab coat as Percy’s old one was falling apart, some food, two ten-dollar movie vouchers and a fleece blanket Percy opted to throw over his and Jason’s shoulder. The fleece blanket had been a terrible idea. But Percy’s enthusiastic browsing stopped at a white envelope with Percy’s name printed on it, making it hard to identify from whom it came.

 

“More vouchers, I suppose,” Percy said jokily, though he did sound nervous. It made no sense anyway, as the movie vouchers had just been tossed into the bag.

 

Jason tried not to look visibly nervous as Percy opened the envelop, teeth nibbling his bottom lip in concentration.

 

“This must be a mistake,” Percy said, voice small and fragile. “I can’t take this.”

 

Annabeth looked slightly startled but managed to recover fairly well. “What’s wrong? It’s nothing inappropriate, is it?”

 

Percy shook his head, clutching the plane tickets as if they were his lifeline. “No, two plane tickets to New York,” he said, uncurling his fists. “Return tickets — I can’t take this, it’s too expensive.”

 

Trying not to feel terrible for making Percy uncomfortable, this was a terrible idea, truly, he should have discussed it with Leo, and Leo would have said it was a terrible idea, Jason open to looking around the room, taking in the other’s their expressions. Most looked shocked, like Percy, but Nico looked a little smug and Solace looked like his favourite TV-show was on. He shouldn’t forget that apparently, Solace was a romantic at heart.

 

“Listen, we,” Annabeth gaze flickered over to him, surprise written all over her face. “We’ll look into it later, okay? Maybe it has been an accident? I usually put my own plane tickets in an envelope, so maybe it was a mix-up?”

 

Annabeth’s words seemed to ease Percy’s anxiety, though he was definitely still buzzing with nerves, tapping his feet and fiddling with the end of the fleece blanket.

 

“Okay, sorry for freaking out, it’s just,” Percy sought out reassurance, and feeling guilty, Jason placed his hand on Percy’s thigh and squeezed gently. Percy eased into his touch, growing a bit more relaxed. “It’s a lot of money that shouldn’t be spent on me.”

 

Annabeth looked ready to protest, but eventually did what Jason thought was the best thing and let it slide.

 

He couldn’t wait to be able to go back in time and change his present because this had been a horrible idea.

 

~*~

 

The moment they wrapped up exchanging the gifts, Jason was dragged away by Percy, goody bag in tow. Leaving Nico’s dorm room, Jason was greeted by the chill of the hallway, wishing that Percy at least had dragged his fleece blanket along.

 

Jason was surprised that Percy had figured him out that easily, though, on the other hand, he supposed that the rest had figured out who had given Percy the present and foremost, the plane tickets, even Hazel and Frank who didn’t know beforehand.

 

“Jace, what do I do?” Percy had taken out the plane tickets, waving them around aimlessly. “I thought he was over me — I told him not to get me the tickets and what does he do? Get me the tickets. I don’t like him romantically, but this is something I can’t pay back, I-”

 

Confused, Jason grabbed Percy’s flailing hands and took them between his, forcing Percy to stand still and focus on him. Somehow it worked, as Percy started to calm down a little bit, though his fingers were still restless, twitching between Jason’s hands.

 

“Who are we talking about?” Jason asked, because this definitely wasn’t about him.

 

Percy seemed to be equally confused, as his sea-green eyes started to fill up with disbelief.

 

“Nico, of course,” Percy said as if it was the most logical thing to say. “You know that he used to-”

 

“Have a crush on you but said he was over it,” Jason finished for him, absentmindedly rubbing his thumb over Percy’s hand. “And he’s over it, the tickets weren’t from him.”

 

First relief grace Percy’s face before once again, confusion settled in. “Then who was it, Hazel?”

 

Well, it was now or never. “Me, I got you the tickets, or, well, _my dad_ has paid for them. He thinks that me and Piper are going to a romantic getaway for Christmas in New York so was willing to pay for them. It gives me an excuse not to spend Christmas with my family, and I thought they would make you happy, giving you the opportunity to see your family for Christmas. But I should have known that you would freak out because Nico had mentioned that _no_ , you didn’t want them. But I still went through with it, and I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have done that. I, just — I want to make you happy.”

 

Percy looked stunned. He wasn’t angry, which was already a start, nor did he look ready to start panicking, again.

 

“You did it to make me happy?”

 

Jason nodded. “I had been noticing you weren’t exactly happy, but I was too busy figuring out your gift to realise _why_. And then Nico mentioned that you were unable to go home due to costs, and I know how much you love Christmas and your family and that getting you there, in New York, was the best way to brighten your mood, and the plane was the easiest. I would have driven you 3000 miles to New York if we had the time, but we don’t have the time, so it was the plane.”

 

“Why?”

 

Jason swallowed because he couldn’t come up with a shitty excuse, not without ruining everything that was going on between the two of them. “Because I’m in love with you, and nothing makes me happier than you being happy, and you haven’t been happy for weeks, and I would do anything to bring that smile back on your face.”

 

It was a good start that Percy didn’t pull away immediately, though the silence was rather unnerving. Maybe he shouldn’t have dropped the L-word, but on the other hand, a _like you_ wouldn’t cut it. It wasn’t a crush, not anymore, not since somewhere in the first year of college.

 

“You love me,” Percy repeated, expression unreadable. “Oh God, Annabeth _wasn_ _’t_ lying. I thought you thought we were just friends — you never flirted with me!”

 

Ignoring the obvious blush on his cheeks, Jason nodded before forcing a few words past his lips. “You never flirted with me either,” he said, trying not to feel _too_ gleeful just yet.

 

“Because I thought — I never thought you would be interested,” hesitation was laced with Percy’s words. “I mean, you’re _way_ out of my league.”

 

He should be celebrating that Percy was interested, but his mind didn’t agree. A voice — probably belonging to his dad — was telling him that Percy was _right_. Percy was way out of his league but in the wrong way. His parents weren’t rich, he was attending school on a scholarship and not based on money. His grades were average, he wasn’t friends with anyone important — unless you counted Rachel, but they weren’t friends because Rachel was rich. Next to that, Percy probably didn’t have a suit in his closet, maybe owned one button-up shirt. He-

 

Jason jumped when Percy pressed his forehead against his. Their hands were trapped between their chests and Jason hurriedly let go as he realised he was clutching Percy’s hands like a lifeline.

 

“You’re okay?” Percy asked, brushing his nose against Jason’s. “You started to panic.”

 

Taking a shaky breath, Jason made a small nodding motion.

 

“I’m fine,” he said, though he didn’t sound fine at all. “Just, don’t think you’re out of my league. There is no way that you’re out of my league unless you’re going to compare to status, and I don’t care about that. I don’t care what your parents do, or how many suits you have in your closet, or…”

 

It was hard to believe he was having a breakdown in the middle of a confession.

 

Percy dropped the envelope with plane tickets and took Jason’s hands in his, fingers intertwined and fitting snugly against each other. It was soothing, warm and familiar. “Is this about your dad again?”

 

Jason nodded. His issues with his dad weren’t something he liked to talk about. He knew that Percy knew, he had told him himself. The issues to be perfect, to be perfect towards others, to be the perfect son he was supposed to be. And most of the time, he could ignore it because he didn’t saw his dad often. He didn’t have to put on a show for him. The last time he had seen his dad was during the summer for a week, and after that, Leo had picked him up to spend the rest of the summer in the Valdez household. But being tired, stressed and a little fragile, Percy’s comment had opened up the floodgate, _again_. It must be annoying for Percy, for anyone, really.

 

“You’re not perfect,” Percy whispers, his thumb runs soothingly over Jason’s hand. “And that’s perfectly fine. You don’t have to be perfect, your choices don’t have to be perfect, and there is nothing wrong being imperfect. It shows you’re a flawed human, and that doesn’t make you less amazing. The fact you wanted to make me happy means so much to me — and it helps I know that you would do it for anyone. I still think you’re way out of my league, just because you’re such a great guy. Caring, way too ambitious, funny, you put up with my silliness.”

 

Jason was sure that his heart was soaring, his hands were clammy, and his body leaned into Percy’s space, taking in the scent of Hot Coco that clung to their clothes. They had to do this sooner, like, seriously, they should have gotten their heads out of the sand and confessed, because Jason hadn’t felt this safe in years.

 

“Says the pretty much perfect guy,” Jason said, taking in the flush that adorned Percy’s cheeks. “How are you real.”

 

Let out an awkward chuckle, Percy made a shrugging motion. “I ask myself the same thing,” Percy bit his bottom lip, making Jason automatically look at his lips, wondering if it is too soon for a kiss. “So, what are your Christmas plans? I know that Piper will spend Christmas with Annabeth and Rachel, so there were no New York plans to begin with.”

 

It would be easier to create some distance between them, as they were breathing each other’s air, but Jason couldn’t make himself to step back, losing the comfort Percy’s presence gave him.

 

“I was planning on staying in the dorms — I’m not really in the mood to go home,” Jason admitted. “I was planning on going to New York, to see my sister, but she said she was already on the move again so that idea was scrapped.”

 

Percy hummed in understanding, squeezing his hands gently. “So, how does New York sound? Me, you, my parents, little sister and my dog, we have the tickets already, and I would love to introduce you. Plus, it would make me feel less guilty to get two tickets if it also makes your Christmas holiday a holiday to remember.”

 

If it weren’t for the fact he was completely sober, Jason would have considered the alcohol talking, _thinking_. Because it sounded like a dream come true, tagging along with Percy to New York, to meet his parents who sounded so wonderful and great and everything Jason wished to have himself.

 

“Are you sure?” Jason asked. “I mean, as friends? Or…”

 

He could only hope for more, and the possibility was that there could be _more_. But what if Percy decided that he rather would enjoy their friendship instead of a relationship. As a relationship would add emotional baggage to it — something that Jason did have, a lot.

 

Chapped lips were briefly pressed against his as if it was the answer to all Jason’s questions. It was because friends didn’t _kiss_.

 

“Boyfriend,” Percy whispered. “If you want of course.”

 

“I would love to.”

 

Another kiss was pressed against his lips, making the huge smile on Percy’s lips fairly noticeable.

 

Jason mourned the loss of warmth as Percy stepped back, creating some much needed but unwanted space between them. He was glad, however, that Percy didn’t let go of his hands.

 

“I have a second question,” Percy said, his bright grin twisting in a cheekier one. “Can I rip your dad a new one?”

 

Blinking in surprise, Jason slowly nodded, wondering how Percy would scold his dad.

 

“Can I have your phone? I don’t have his number, you see.”

 

Nervously, Jason took out his phone and handed it to Percy, fingers shaking a little.

 

“Password,” Percy mumbled, already trying out several codes. “Or do you want to unlock itself?”

 

Jason shook his head and cleared his throat. “Your birthday.”

 

Percy looked up, looking equally surprised as thrilled. “You just got even better — I thought I was the only poor sucker who had their crush’s birthday as a password.”

 

Shrugging, Jason offered Percy an easy smile, not even having to try to show off his joy. “Well, after unofficially dating for almost three years, one of these things were bound to happen.”

 

Even as Jason’s phone was already making the dialling noise, which meant that Percy was actually calling his dad, Percy shot him a dazzling smile. “I like the sound of that.”

 

Grinning as his dad picked up — he was surprisingly calm considering Percy was going to out him —  Jason added his own piece of thought. “Me too.”


End file.
